Some crimes are committed out of necessity, and are thefts that are motivated by need instead of financial advantage or greed. When it comes to personal theft charges, the sentencing and legal repercussion are comparable; unarmed, non-violent theft charges can carry a short sentence of a few months to less than three years.

Context is everything in law, and the intention of the accused during the course of engaging in a felony determines the severity of the legal consequences that they will be required to face. From stealing groceries to “feed your family” to brandishing a knife and threatening death, the crime of robbery is the same, but the level of violence determines everything. We look more closely at understanding the line between personal theft and aggravated robbery, and why the consequences for aggravated robbery are so much more severe than other levels of theft crime in America.

What Qualifies as a Robbery According to U.S. Law?

There is a common misconception in America that robbery is not as serious as other felony offenses. In most U.S. states, robbery is divided into categories to fairly distinguish between simple cases of theft, and violent, planned, or collaborated criminal events.  

The aggravated robbery definition varies by state, but generally includes crimes that involve a weapon (knives and firearms are included). It is considered a felony offense and carries a significant mandatory jail sentence, no matter how large or small the property or financial loss is. The use of intimidation by violence or with weapons defines an aggravated robbery, but many states also consider threats to be the equivalent of physical harm in these cases.

Some states have laws that are more intolerant of violent crimes. Texas is known for being a state that has severe consequences for criminal activity, including the death penalty in extreme cases. Since 1982, 531 people have been executed in the state. In Texas, according to Section 29.03, aggravated robbery is defined as an offense that:

• Causes serious bodily injury to another
• Uses or displays a deadly weapon to coerce or intimidate during the robbery
• Causes bodily injury to another person or threatens and places another person in fear of bodily injury or death, particularly citizens over the age of 65 years or disabled (which includes someone with a mental, physical, or developmental disability who is unable to protect him or herself from harm).

The victim and the geographic location of your robbery can also escalate it from a simple crime to an aggravated felony robbery. Aggravated robberies can include a number of different types of theft and intimidation crimes, including but not limited to:

• Carjacking
• Armed robbery (use or presence of weapon)
• Robbery of taxi cab drivers
• Robbery of citizens at banks or at bank machines and ATMs
• Home invasions
• Business robbery, including restaurants and retail stores
• Hostage taken during a robbery

Another misconception about aggravated robbery involves the type of weapon that qualifies as a potentially deadly or lethal implement. Some criminals are charged with aggravated robbery when they use a baseball bat, a wooden stick, or even a rock. According federal and state laws, any object that is capable of intimidating and doing bodily harm to another individual constitutes a weapon, and escalates the crime from a simple theft to an aggravated attempted or successful assault.

In the instance of a bank robbery, there does not even have to be a weapon for the offense to be considered an aggravated robbery. All the accused has to do is hand a letter to a bank employee with a threat on it, and in the eyes of the law, the note is just the same as a gun or knife. The implication of bodily harm is equivalent to the possession of a weapon in most American states, and bank robberies are almost always heard at federal court.

Further to the seriousness of bank robbery, did you know that robbing a grocery store that has a bank inside it may constitute the robbery of a financial institution, and remand your charge to federal courts?  Many criminals don’t, and while they may have deliberately chosen to lower their risk by avoiding a bank, the proximity can carry with it significant legal consequences.

Consequences for Lawful Permanent Residents and Green Card Holders

While the legal consequences and incarceration sentences are severe for American citizens who are charged with aggravated robbery, there are even more punitive measures taken against Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR), refugees, or Green Card holders that are convicted of an aggravated felony, including robbery.

• An LPR becomes directly deportable, regardless of how long he or she has been a lawful permanent resident or how many family ties (children, spouse and relatives) that are here.
• An LPR can be deported without a hearing or appeal.
• Become ineligible for inadmissibility for a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT).
• An LPR becomes ineligible for the waiver of removability Cancellation of Removal (CoR) 8 USC § 1229b(a). 2.

Essentially what happens to a lawful permanent resident is that they are deported quickly after being charged with the aggravated felony robbery offense and found guilty. The laws prevent any appeal of deportation under any circumstance once convicted in a U.S. court of law, and the likelihood of the convicted to return to live in the United States at some future time is unlikely, as readmission rights are waived in the legislation when a lawful resident commits a felony offense. It is a zero tolerance rule.

Average Incarceration Sentence Length for Aggravated Robbery

A number of factors impact the length of sentencing in an charge of robbery. Whether a weapon was used or not, the amount of money stolen during the robbery, whether individuals were harmed or abducted during the crime, and the overall criminal history of the accused are weighted during criminal sentencing.

Depending on the unique details of each robbery, additional years may be added to the base sentence for a felony offence. Are you interested in learning how much time accused people can earn in prison, after an aggravated robbery? Sentencing is of course up to the judge, but The United States Sentencing Commission offers guidelines that determine when sentencing should be incrementally increased in aggravated robbery cases.